Note: Box Elder finished with a 5-7 overall record in 2014 and tied for fourth in Region 5 with a 2-4 record. It lost to Corner Canyon 34-7 in the 4A first round.
BRIGHAM CITY — There are plenty of changes to be found in the Box Elder High football program this fall.
For starters, the Bees have been moved to a newly aligned Region 5, where they'll no longer face traditional region rivals like Roy, Sky View, Mountain Crest and Logan.
Instead, you'll find new foes like Bountiful, Highland, East and Woods Cross on the Bees' league schedule this season. Speaking of starters, they'll have a bunch of new faces in the Box Elder lineup this season, as only a half-dozen young men are back who started for the Bees in 2014, including a couple — Jarom Mecham and Darius McFarland — who were two-way starters last season.
Heck, Mecham and McFarland are even gonna be changing the positions they each play on offense this year. One thing that won't change at Box Elder High, however, is the tenacious and determined way the Bees play in their quest for success each week.
That's something head coach Robbie Gunter's teams have always done, and this year's Bees ballclub is certainly no exception.
"We feel good about our guys, we feel good about our team, and we're competitive," he said in sizing up this year's squad. "I know that we'll come out each week and be ready.
"We line up and our goal is to win region every year. We plan and try to gear towards that as we go through the season. We have a preseason that we think is a tough schedule and will set us up for that — Syracuse, Logan, Bear River and Herriman. With that schedule, we feel like we get ourselves in position to play at a high level before we go into league play.
"We have great kids here that will compete and buy into the plan, and that always gives us a chance," Gunter said. "They're kids that have done the work, and we feel pretty good about 'em."
One of those young men he feels pretty good about is Mecham, a senior quarterback who started at both wide receiver and safety last season but will be the main man assigned to run the Bees' offense this season — throwing passes instead of catching them. He had 13 catches for 347 yards and five touchdowns as a wideout last year.
"He's just such a good athlete it's hard to keep him on the sidelines," Gunter said of Mecham, who was the Bees' backup QB last year. "He can throw the ball, and he can make all the throws we need.
"He's competitive and he's athletic enough to run the ball as well. He's really a facilitator. He's the guy that understands the offense and can distribute the ball. He did a great job for us all summer long in 7-on-7."
Joining Mecham in the offensive backfield will be senior running back Bryant Tingey, who had 214 yards rushing on just 29 carries (a stellar 7.38-yard average) and three touchdowns last year, and McFarland, a 6-foot-2, 260-pound beast who played tight end in 2014 — catching 28 passes for 382 yards and a couple of TDs — but will switch to fullback in 2015.
"He's really athletic and agile for his size," Gunter said. "He's a load." Indeed, opposing defenses will likely cringe when they see McFarland carrying the ball, especially in short-yardage or goal-line situations.
Taylor Ashcroft, who plays wingback — a hybrid running back/receiver position in the Bees' Wing-T offense — is another senior returning starter who's being counted on to produce again this season along with Dylan Rodriguez, a versatile junior who can play wide receiver, running back or quarterback on offense and safety on defense.
"He's a pretty dynamic player," Gunter said of Rodriguez. "He's athletic, he goes and gets the ball as a receiver and he can run it, too."
Senior Alan Bown will also see reps in the wide receiver corps along with Ashcroft and Rodriguez. At tight end, junior Zach Gunn and senior Jason Vance will see duty.
Haydn Stender, a senior guard, is a returning starter who'll anchor the Bees' O-line along with senior center Cody Howard.
A host of players is battling it out for the other three starting spots on the offensive line. "We've got a bunch of guys trying to compete and we're trying to figure it out right now at other three spots," Gunter said. "I feel pretty good about our line, though. They're not big, but they're tough and competitive kids."
On the defensive line, McFarland and junior nose guard Riley Taylor are returning starters. McFarland piled up 39 tackles with 4.5 sacks last season, and Taylor had 32 tackles and a sack of his own as a sophomore last season.
After that, the D-line will be manned by "some young guys that are competing and some older guys that are doing a good job," according to Gunter.
Tingey is a returning starter at linebacker, where he amassed 81 tackles and an interception last year. He'll be joined by Vance and senior Jackson Lancaster, with several other players competing for playing time as well.
Mecham started at safety last season, and he had a whopping 86 tackles, a sack and three interceptions. Rodriguez will also start at safety, with senior Briar Bunderson backing them up.
Cornerbacks Bown, Ashcroft, junior Cole Curtis and senior Kort Claybaugh round out the defensive backfield.
Speaking of defense, many of the teams in Box Elder's new region like to run the ball down people's throats. But the Bees' run defense has always been solid so, hopefully, that will work to their advantage against league opponents.
"The crazy thing is that, in the past, we had a region that's all pass," Gunter said. "And now we're in a region where it's gonna be run first. So if the game starts at 7, we should be done by 7:45," Gunter joked.
"We've always been a stop-the-run-first type of team. And we've played teams in the preseason every year that run the ball first. So we kinda get used to that," he said. "It's just that it could be every week now, so it's quite a bit different. Highland, East, Bountiful and Woods Cross — they're all running teams. So it'll be a little bit different in that way, getting our kids going downhill, forcing teams into long-yardage plays so they have to throw the ball.
"We've always been pretty strong defensively, and we feel good about our defense coming back this year, too."
Two things stood out in Box Elder's 2014 season, when it went 5-7 overall, and they're two things it needs to change: First, the Bees started out 4-3, then lost four of their last five games. Second, four of their losses came by seven or fewer points, including a 31-28 triple-overtime heartbreaker against Syracuse, a seven-point overtime loss to Logan, a seven-point loss to Layton and a four-point loss to Mountain Crest. So finishing the season strong, and finishing games strong, will be points of emphasis as the Bees prepare for their 2015 campaign against a rugged region alignment.
"Highland feels really good about what they've got. East feels good about what they've got, and Larry (Wall) feels good about what Bountiful's got, and whatever he does, they're gonna be good," Gunter said.
"Woods Cross was very good last year, and we know Bonneville's going to be good this year, too. They've had the same coach (Jantz Afuvai) for a couple of years now, and that makes a big difference. He's got guys believing in themselves."
Indeed, guys believing in themselves — that's something Box Elder High has been good at for years and years. And even though other folks don't expect a lot out of them in their new league — they were picked fifth in the preseason poll — the Bees' players and coaches still have a strong belief in what they can do on the football field, and that certainly won't change in 2015.
Box Elder Bees at a glance
Head coach: Robbie Gunter enters his seventh season as Box Elder's head coach. He is 32-34 overall with the Bees and has compiled an overall career record of 68-63 in 12 years as a high school head coach. He is a graduate of Marsh Valley (Idaho) High School and Southern Utah University. Offense (4 returning starters; Wing-T formation) Offensive coordinator: Robbie Gunter (7th year at the school) Offensive returning starters Darius McFarland (TE) Haydn Stender (OG) Taylor Ashcroft (WR) Jarom Mecham (WR) Offensive newcomers to watch Jarom Mecham (QB)
Darius McFarland (FB)
Dylan Rodriguez (WR/RB)
Alan Bown (WR)
Cody Howard (C)
Zach Gunn (TE)
Defense (4 returning starters; 4-3 formation) Defensive coordinator: Mike Robinson (15 years as assistant at the school) Defensive returning starters Darius McFarland (DL) Bryant Tingey (LB) Riley Taylor (DT) Jarom Mecham (S)
Defensive newcomers to watch Jason Vance (LB)
Jackson Lancaster (LB)
Briar Bunderson (S)
Alan Bown (CB)
Cole Curtis (CB)
Kort Claybaugh (CB)
Coaches preseason Region 5 straw poll: Fifth Deseret News Region 5 prediction: Fifth Bottom line: A rugged new region alignment and only a handful of returning starters on both sides of the ball will present some problems for the Bees this year. Still, the guys they've got coming back — led by returning starters Mecham, McFarland, Tingey, Taylor, Stender and Ashcroft — and a strong cast of newcomers led by Rodriguez, Vance and Bown are determined to prove people wrong. Box Elder has always been a fiercely competitive program which is a perennial playoff contender, and this year should be no different. But the schedule does the Bees no favors, with three of their last five league games are on the road at Woods Cross, East and Bountiful.
Last 5
2014 — 5-7 (2-4 in Region 5 – 4A First round)
2013 — 6-5 (4-2 in Region 5 – 4A First round)
2012 — 7-5 (3-2 in Region 5 – 4A Quarterfinals)
2011 — 6-5 (2-3 in Region 5 – 4A First round)
2010 — 6-5 (4-1 in Region 5 – 4A First round)
Box Elder coaching history
2009-current — Robbie Gunter (32-34)
1991-2008 — Wes Roesler (128-71)
1988-1990 — Larry Findley (18-10)
1981-1987 — Michale Madeo (39-29)
1979-1980 — Larry Findley (10-10)
1974-1978 — Gordon Peterson (21-25)
1964-1973 — Unknown (56-40)
1963 — Gerald Simmons (2-6)
1960-1962 — Les Dunn (22-9)
1921-1959 — Earl Ferguson (213-78)
1917-1920 — Alvin Twitchell (7-7)
Deseret News First Team all-staters the past 10 years
2014 — Riley Burt, RB
2014 — Jarom Meacham, DB
2013 — Luke Daley, OL
2013 — Breckin Gunter, LB
2012 — Breckin Gunter, LB
2011 — Britton Gunter, DB
2006 — Riggin Holmgren, OL
2006 — Curtis Cosgrove, DL
2006 — Broc Lindauer, LB
2006 — Alex Nelson, DB
To view second team and honorable mention all-staters through the years, check out the Deseret News All-State Archives.
EMAIL: rhollis@desnews.com